1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to azimuthally scanned IR imagers for achieving coverage of a wide field of view, and more particularly to an IR imaging system which avoids the need for large movements of mirrors or gimbals when large azimuth angle coverage is sought.
2. Prior Art
Panoramic coverage in infrared has customarily been achieved by means of a linear IR array which is ordinarily scanned across a panoramic field of view-frequently 360 deg. in azimuth angle. While the foregoing approach has been reasonably successful, it is clear that greater range capability, greater sensitivity, and more compact packaging would be welcomed. Thus it would appear desirable to increase the integration time, decrease the revisit time while requiring a smaller scanning angle to achieve wide azimuthal coverage.